This invention relates to a grain sampler, and more particularly to a grain sampler for use with a batch grain dryer incorporated with a grain storage.
Such batch grain dryer/storage bins are used for drying batches of grain and for subsequent conditioning and storage of various types of grains. Such bins are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,943,636, and 3,479,748. Such a batch grain dryer/storage bin is commercially available under the trade designation of "Top Dry" from Grain Systems, Inc. of Assumption, Ill., the assignee of the present invention. In such a batch dryer/storage bin, grain to be dried is first deposited on a sloped, perforated drying floor located in a top portion of the bin. The grain on this sloped drying floor forms a layer of grain to be dried and this layer is of generally a uniform thickness and it constitutes the batch of grain to be dried. Heated air is then directed into the interior of the bin below the drying floor and is forced up through the perforated drying floor and through the layer of grain to be dried be a heater/blower unit mounted on the bin. After drying, a plurality of chutes located about the periphery of the drying floor are opened. The dried grain flows down the sloped drying floor and is dumped or falls into a storage area located beneath the drying floor. A new batch of grain is then deposited on the floor and the process repeated. The bottom portion of the bin has a raised, perforated floor which supports the dried grain dumped into the storage area of the bin after it has been dried on the drying floor. A heater/fan unit may be operated to force either heated or ambient air beneath the raised floor in the bin so as to further dry or condition the grain that has been dumped into the bin storage area of the and which is supported on the raised floor. In certain instances, by forcing ambient or heated air through the grain in the lower portion of the bin, heat from the grain dumped into the bin from the drying floor can be recovered and as the heated air from within the bin is forced upwardly through the perforated drying floor, this recovered heat may be used to at least in part aid in drying the next batch of grain deposited on the drying floor.
It is often desirable to sample and test the grain on the drying floor or the dried grain which has been dumped into the bin below the drying floor to determine the condition of the grain being dried on the drying floor and/or to determine the condition of the dried grain within the bin so that it can be determined whether additional drying is required and the extent to which further drying is required. It will be appreciated that the characteristics or properties of grain being dried on the drying floor can vary from location to location on the drying floor. For example, the condition of the grain being dried on the drying floor can vary depending whether the sample of the grain is taken at the eave, peak or mid-section of the sloped drying floor. Further, due to the depth of the grain layer on the drying floor, the condition of the grain can vary depending on whether the sample is taken close to the drying floor at the bottom of the grain layer or near the upper surface of the grain layer. Of course, if the grain sample taken is not representative of the average condition of the batch of grain being dried, then subsequent drying and conditioning steps may not fully dry or condition the grain, as intended. Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to efficiently obtain a sample from any batch that is representative of that batch and to do so in such a way as to not interfere with the normal grain drying processes.